Happy Cinco de Mayo.

The Gallery at One Market has many active exhibits. This includes several 3D printers. Often we are printing models from AutoCAD, Inventor, or Revit to take to trade shows and other events. Gallery guests to get to see these printers in action. We also have previously completed models. The full scale 3D motorcycle is on display. Visitors can gaze upon it with across the street's San Francisco Ferry Building in the background:

I had my first glimpse of the motorcycle at AU 2008 which I captured in my YouTube video.

A recent addition to the Gallery is the aircraft engine that we featured at last year's Autodesk University. Check it out:

Using Autodesk Inventor, designer Nino Caldarola designed this aircraft engine that has over 300 parts. Stratasys printed it using a Fused Deposition Modeling 3D Printer at their RedEye facility in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It took about 2,000 hours to print - which is quite a while - but much shorter than if you had to physically fabricate a prototype.

The parts are high-strength ABS (Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene) thermoplastic and are fully functional. The engine is integrated with a working electronic motor (real, not 3D printed) that turns the blades. As Autodesk Gallery Ambassadors, we have a remote control to start and stop the engine. How fun is that?

The engine even looks cool from the sidewalk below:

The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Appreciating what 3D printing brings to the rapid prototyping process is alive in the lab.